


Nothing According to Plan

by pillowcreek



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: (kind of), Amputee Jacobi, Angst, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Violence, but it's mostly just towards the end, post-ep. 47
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 20:13:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11192586
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pillowcreek/pseuds/pillowcreek
Summary: He didn’t know what to do without a plan. It had never happened before. He planned out everything, thought up every possible thing that could happen, and knew how to get out when something went wrong. But he hadn’t seen this coming. He especially hadn’t been planning on watching his hand evaporate into thin air.(post-episode 47 angst with a side of Kepler character study)





	Nothing According to Plan

The door slammed shut behind Minkowski but Kepler barely heard it. His gaze was fixed on his hands - hand. His hand. And that… stump. It was the only way to describe it really. A stump. There was no blood, no scarring, no exposed bone. His hand was just… gone. And all that was left was the pain shooting down his arm and up into his jaw. 

_What happens now?_  

They were stuck here, Jacobi still handcuffed and him with only one hand. He had no use anymore. He couldn’t _do_ anything. All he knew how to do was how to fight, how to kill, and how to survive. And now he couldn’t do two of those things anymore. He could throw a punch with his remaining hand, sure, but not much beyond that. And his arm hurt too much to move it. Maybe if Maxwell were here he’d still have a chance, but she wasn’t. Not anymore. Not ever again. 

As for surviving, it didn’t look like they’d be doing much of that for much longer. That _thing_ was still on the station. Still capable of being hacked into by the others. Still a weapon about to go off. And since the rest of the crew refused to deal with it, it’d probably be going off soon. 

And he had no plan. 

He didn’t know what to do without a plan. It had never happened before. He planned out everything, thought up every possible thing that could happen, and knew how to get out when something went wrong. But he hadn’t seen this coming. He especially hadn’t been planning on watching his hand evaporate into thin air. 

_What happens now?_

He was still staring at it. He didn’t know why. It wasn’t like it was doing anything. It wasn’t changing. Nothing else was disappearing, nothing was growing back. There was just… nothing there. Just a stump and seemingly endless pain. 

Pain had never bothered him before. But pain had always been planned before. He had always been expecting it. It had never come out of nowhere before. Had never left him frozen long after the aliens had let him go, never left him gasping for breath, unable to think straight outside of a long string of swear words. 

_What happens now?_

He was dead either way. Either he died up here in the cold expanse of space, killed by aliens or this idiotic crew or he died when they get back to Earth. He failed. Cutter would have his head for this. 

No. What was it that he had said? 

“ _I’m going to hang him.”_

That. He’d hang him for this. A complete and utter failure with no end in sight. Or rather, there was an end in sight, but it was a brutal and bloody one, that would cause him even more unspeakable pain. 

It was only a matter of time. Just a question of _when._ And possibly where. Up here in space, killed by aliens, or back home on Earth, killed in whatever “fun” way that Cutter could come up with. 

_What happens now?_

He was startled out of his thoughts when Jacobi took the stump into his hands. The cold metal of his prosthetic made Kepler flinch, Jacobi frowning when he noticed. 

“You still with me, _sir?”_ Jacobi asked, voice scathing. It was then that Kepler realized that Jacobi had been trying to get his attention for the past couple of minutes. He hadn’t even noticed. 

Shit, how fucked up _was_ he? 

“Yes.” His voice was quieter than he’d expected. 

“Great. I need you to stay still for a minute, okay?” 

Kepler nodded, only to regret it a moment later when Jacobi punched him in the face. It’s not as hard as he usually hit, due to his hands still being handcuffed - more like an awkward slap really - but it still startled him. 

“Jacobi! What the-“ 

“What the _hell_ was all that about?! You _knew_ she was an alien?! And you never _told_ us?!” 

“It’s not the first time I’ve lied to you Jacobi. And you know that. You know that there are some things that are ‘Need to Know’ only.” 

Jacobi sulked slightly. “You still could have told me. Especially after-“ 

“I did tell you. I told you that you weren’t an alien, didn’t I?” Jacobi glared at him in response and Kepler sighed. “This isn’t what you’re really upset about, is it?” 

“You killed her.” 

“Yes and I’ve killed people before. Many times. You’ve never had a problem with it before so I don’t see why you’re-“ 

“Not Captain Lovelace. _Maxwell._ ” 

“I’m sorry?” 

“Maxwell. You know, Doctor Alana Maxwell? The third member of our crew?” Jacobi was practically steaming with anger. 

“Yes, I know who you’re talking about. I just don’t understand why you’re claiming that I killed her. Lieutenant Minkowski was the one who shot her. Because you blew up Hilbert, if I’m remembering correctly.” 

“On _your_ orders!” 

“That you chose to carry out.” All of the fight that Jacobi’s hit had given him finally left his body and he sagged back against the wall, exhausted. 

Jacobi instinctively reached out to help him, but he grabbed his sore shoulder by mistake. Kepler let out a brief cry of pain before gritting his teeth. Jacobi’s eyes widened and he let go. “Sir?” 

“I’m _fine,_ Jacobi,” he managed to hiss out. The pain was shooting up his neck and jaw, making it hard for him to talk. It was unlike anything Kepler had ever felt before. 

“I really don’t think you are, sir. You just lost your hand.” 

“Your… point?” Even breathing felt painful. 

“My _point_ is that you’re probably in immense pain right now, even if you aren’t currently gushing blood. I lost my arm, remember? I know what it’s like and that’s why I get to say that you’re kind of being a bit of a wuss right now.” 

Kepler laughed at that. He couldn’t help it. He regretted it a second later though when he was gritting his teeth in pain again. 

“Alright, you need to stop talking. Or laughing. Or anything really. Just shut up completely.” 

“Jacobi…” Kepler tried his best to get out the most threatening snarl he could manage at the moment. Jacobi seemed unimpressed. 

“Sir, with all due respect, I mean it. You should probably stop talking. It hasn’t exactly been helping you so far today.” 

Kepler sighed and closed his eyes, trying not to think about their impending doom or the pain that was making the spot behind his eyes ache. They float in silence for a minute, before Kepler gets bored and tries to fill the silence. 

“Was it this bad for you?” 

“What?” 

“Losing your arm. Was it this bad?” 

Jacobi hesitated before replying. “I’m not sure. It’s a different scenario. I mean yeah, I lost my entire left arm, but I was also knocked unconscious when it happened. And when I woke up, I had a shit-ton of painkillers pumping through my body. You only lost your hand, but you _watched_ it happen. You _felt_ it go. And we don’t exactly have any painkillers in this lovely cell that Minkowski was kind enough to provide us with.” 

“So that’s a…?” 

He made a noise somewhere between a huff and a snarl. “It’s an I don’t know, okay Colonel? Is that alright with you?” 

“No… Nothing about this situation is _alright with me._ ” 

Jacobi shrunk back somewhat at the slight reappearance of danger in Kepler’s voice. He didn’t bother to tell Jacobi that he didn’t have the willpower or energy to yell at him right now. It was taking everything he had just to keep having this conversation with him instead of continuing with his internal meltdown. 

“Let’s take a look at this then.” Jacobi gently took the stump in his hands again. “No scarring. Lucky you.” 

“Did you just say that I’m _lucky?_ Need I remind you that I _lost_ my _hand?”_

Jacobi did his best attempt at a shrug with handcuffs on. “Just looking on the bright side. Are you able to lift your arms at all?” Kepler shook his head, wincing at the pain that the movement caused. “Okay. That should hopefully go away soon. This is a… _really_ clean cut. You can’t even tell that there was anything there before. It’s like they cauterized it.” 

His voice came out quiet again. “Yeah.” 

Jacobi studied him for a moment before saying, “You’re actually scared, aren’t you?” 

“I don’t know what happens now,” Kepler said softly. 

“Welcome to what the rest of the crew has been feeling this entire time. Isn’t it fun?” His voice was laced with sarcasm. 

“What do we do?” 

There’s a slight pause before Jacobi lifted his arms up and wrapped them around Kepler’s neck the best he could. It was a tight fit between his cuffed arms, but Kepler found himself tucked nicely underneath Jacobi’s chin. “Jacobi?” 

“What?” 

“What are you doing?” 

“Attempting to comfort you. Sir.” 

“Why?” 

“Because you did this for me once. And I wanted to return the favour. Alright?” 

Kepler sighed but buried his face into Jacobi’s neck, planting a soft kiss on his collarbone. “Alright.” 

“We’ll figure a way out of this one, okay? We always do.” 

“I’m not so sure. We’ve already lost Maxwell and we have nothing we can use to fight back.” 

“We’ll figure it out. We’ll get out alive. Just like always.” 

Kepler sighed again. “I don’t think so, Jacobi. Not this time.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me on tumblr @pillowcreeks if you too are excited for the character development that our local violent troll will be getting this season


End file.
